U.S. Man Arrested for 'Hunting' Bin Laden

By

Zahid Hussain And

Stu Woo

Updated June 15, 2010 12:01 a.m. ET

ISLAMABAD—An American construction worker who was arrested with a 40-inch sword, a pistol and night-vision goggles in northwestern Pakistan told investigators Tuesday that he wanted to kill Osama bin Laden to avenge the 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S.

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Gary Brooks Faulkner, 50 years old, of Greeley, Colo., was caught by Pakistani police Monday in the remote Bumburat Valley near the border of Afghanistan's Nuristan province, where he apparently hoped to find Mr. bin Laden.

Police quoted Mr. Faulkner as saying he wanted to avenge the victims of the attacks on New York and Washington. He was carrying Christian religious books, according to Mumtaz Ahmed Khan, a senior police officer in the northwestern town of Chitral.

ENLARGE

Gary Brooks Faulkner, seen in January 2006, was arrested Monday.
Associated Press

Mr. Faulkner arrived in Chitral on June 3 and stayed in a hotel in Bumburat Valley, an area famous for its spring dancing festival, which attracts large number of foreign visitors every year.

At a news conference near the Colorado statehouse in Denver, Mr. Faulkner's younger brother, Scott Faulkner, a physician, described Gary as "a man on a mission."

"He's not crazy," Dr. Faulkner said of his brother. "He's not a psychopath. He's not a sociopath."

An American construction worker who was arrested with a sword, a pistol and night-vision goggles in northwestern Pakistan told investigators that he wanted to kill Osama bin Laden to avenge the 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. Video courtesy of Fox News.

Scott Faulkner said his brother was born in Los Angeles, raised in Fort Collins, Colo., and resides in Greeley, Colo. Mr. Faulkner has been divorced for 26 years and has a grown son, Dr. Faulkner said. A devout Christian and a construction worker, he used his carpentry skills to help build houses in Central America and in the U.S. South after Hurricane Katrina.

After the 9/11 attacks, he said Mr. Faulkner began visiting Pakistan to try to find Osama bin Laden because he felt the U.S. military was not "doing enough." Dr. Faulkner said his brother grew a beard and adopted local attire to assimilate in Pakistan and obtain intelligence there.

"Who says, 'Why do I rob banks? Because that's where the money is,'" Dr. Faulkner asked. He said his brother went to Pakistan because "that's where Osama is."

The current trip was roughly Mr. Faulkner's sixth to Pakistan since 2002, Dr. Faulkner said. The physician said he drove his brother to the airport, and that Mr. Faulkner wasn't carrying any weapons when he boarded the plane. "He did not have a sword, although that is his weapon of choice in Pakistan," said Dr. Faulkner, who said he thought his brother obtained the sword in Pakistan.

Dr. Faulkner said his brother also brought wire ties to use as handcuffs on Mr. bin Laden. He said that if Mr. Faulkner, who must undergo dialysis three times a week, killed or captured Mr. bin Laden, he planned to use his reward money to retire to Nicaragua, where he would help locals build houses.

ENLARGE

Dr. Scott Faulkner talks about his brother, Gary Brooks Faulkner, during a news conference outside the studios of a TV station in Denver on Tuesday.
Associated Press

Because of Mr. bin Laden's security and Mr. Faulkner's kidney condition, Scott Faulkner said he wasn't sure if his brother would return alive. "I did not think I was going to see my brother again," Dr. Faulkner said. "That's the nature of going to Pakistan and hunting a wanted man who is surrounded by people with automatic weapons.

Mr. Faulkner arrived in Pakistan on a tourist visa, and police said it was his third trip to the area in the past five years.

Mr. Faulkner disappeared from his hotel on Sunday night, slipping away from the police guard that had been posted there for his security, a common service in the area.He was seized from a forest in a high security zone close to the border after a 10-hour hunt. He carried a 40-inch sword, which he said he brought with him from California, and several rounds of pistol bullets, Mr. Khan said.Mr. Faulkner surrendered without any resistance and was flown to Peshawar Tuesday for further investigation.Richard Snelsire, a U.S. Embassy spokesman, said the Peshawar consulate had been informed of the arrest of a U.S. citizen, adding that the embassy was seeking access to the detained American.

In Greeley on Tuesday, Daren Paredes, a former employee of Mr. Faulkner, said he was "shocked" by the arrest in Pakistan. "He's not crazy," Mr. Paredes said. "He's a very intelligent man."

Mr. Paredes, 27, said he had taken over Mr. Faulkner's former cellphone number six years ago, when Mr. Faulkner temporarily relocated to California from Greeley.

Dr. Scott Faulkner owned two 10-unit apartment buildings in Greeley and Mr. Faulkner helped run them, said Mr. Paredes, who did carpentry work at the buildings.

Mr. Paredes described Mr. Faulkner as a "really chatty," easygoing man who was "very strong in his faith with God."

"He didn't go overboard," he said. "He's not like some people who try to preach you. He's more helpful than anything. He wouldn't push anything on you."

Mr. Paredes said Mr. Faulkner hired Mr. Paredes's homeless mother to help manage the apartment complex, and that Mr. Faulkner had given free rooms to other homeless people. "He's a real nice guy," Mr. Paredes said.

The former employee said nothing about Mr. Faulkner struck him as unusual. He never heard his boss talk about the 9/11 attacks or Osama bin Laden. Mr. Paredes said he never saw Mr. Faulkner get angry or raise his voice. Mr. Paredes said that when he did something wrong at work, Mr. Faulkner just teased him and showed him how to do the job correctly.

Mr. Paredes said the two would often joke and he would rib Mr. Faulkner for his gray, shoulder-length hair.

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